General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsI propose that some women Marines go on Morning Joe
and take turns throwing his sorry ass over her shoulder, and carrying it out to the dumpster. Poor Joe has doubts that very many women can meet the combat strength requirements.
An old friend told me she used to work out in (or near) the Pentagon's weight room. She wanted to sign up for a weight lifting contest, but her trainer told her not to bother. She was only bench pressing 175 pounds, and he said there were dozens of other women there, mostly Marines, pressing over 200lbs.
(Sorry about my grammar and lack of noun verb agreement regarding plurality. I invite a proper, helpful restatement. I'm willing to learn.)
MADem
(135,425 posts)on hand. Make sure he only has to do the female test for his age group--don't want to bully him too much.
He'd be left gasping and crying, I have no doubt.
Ilsa
(61,694 posts)PT test, or is it just more difficult than the standard PT for women in the Army?
MADem
(135,425 posts)For a male to have to carry an equivalent "load" as a female, he'd need to strap a twenty pound sack of potatoes to his ass, for starters. The weight distribution is different. Muscle mass is different. Upper body strength is different. Running stride is different. These are functions of anatomy, not "weakness." Women in many cases may not be as fast, but they can keep going when men burn out.
I am no expert on the USMC system, but it is a "point" system, similar to other branches. The females have that "flexed arm hang" (instead of the "pull up" which can be torture, either one, without a good deal of training.
It's not an easy test, even with the differences in times/amounts.
Female test: http://usmilitary.about.com/od/marines/l/blfitfemale.htm
Male test: http://usmilitary.about.com/od/marines/l/blfitmale.htm
Joe Scarborough, at his age, were he taking the male PT test, would need to do a MINIMUM of three pull ups, do forty crunches in two minutes, and run three miles in 33:00 minutes.
Were he taking the female PT test, he would be required to do a "flexed arm hang" for fifteen seconds, do forty crunches in two minutes, and he'd have an extra three minutes to do his three mile run.
But see, that's the MINIMUM requirement. The USMC expects many of their number to do much, much better--and many do.
The Army test is easier--push ups, sit ups, and a TWO mile run.
Navy is easier still (I always used to joke that it's not a mile and a half between the bridge and ANY engine room...): push ups, sit ups, and a mile and a half run (or a 500 yard swim). They used to make everyone touch their toes in pass-fail fashion, not sure if they are doing that anymore.
The USAF test used to be a joke--they'd put people on a stationary bike and let them pedal along in leisurely fashion. They changed their test a couple of years ago; now they have to run and do crunches/push-ups, I think.
Haven't kept up with this stuff in detail, so I may have missed a change or an update here or there, but that's the general gist.
Ilsa
(61,694 posts)3 miles at 11 minutes per mile? I've seen 30 yo women 7 months pregnant run faster than that, uphill (up a bridge) and they weren't military. I was running five 8:20 miles in my late twenties and able to do one pullup, 25 men's pushups, no sweat.
MADem
(135,425 posts)USMC prides itself on fitness, so the MINIMUM standard is not really acceptable--it's forgiveable once or twice if you're sick, just got out of hospital, just off limited duty after recovering from being wounded--but not something anyone would want to turn in year in, year out. Repeatedly turning in MINIMUM scores isn't going to help someone get promoted--a selection board will look at a history of low scores and very possibly hit the DUMP button, absent another vital skill or speciality. The score that is "OK" for a linguist or a thoracic surgeon is a very different score for someone who is a front-line fighter.
For a female Marine to get "full marks" (100 points) on the test, they'd need to do the flexed arm hang for 70 seconds, bang out a hundred crunches (they are sit ups, basically but quick ones) in two minutes, and do that three mile run in 21:00.
OKNancy
(41,832 posts)These women would gladly haul Joe out to the dumpster.
tavernier
(12,376 posts)... and lift him up and carry him out of the studio, never to be heard from again.
Ilsa
(61,694 posts)Ins-Hannity clone on NSNBC. He doesn't have a problem publicly ridiculing the GOP.
But sometimes, he rubs me the wrong way because he's so dug-in on male-female stereotypes.
butterfly77
(17,609 posts)I sit and wait hoping some man would kick his ass on set everyday as he leans back in his chair as though he is the authority on all things,it would be sweeter if it were a woman.
seabeyond
(110,159 posts)on a table in 4 inch instead of carrying her weight, i would imagine he has a skewed view of a womans ability.
Ilsa
(61,694 posts)But why does she do shots like that? Is she auditioning for PlayBoy?
Surya Gayatri
(15,445 posts)Here's his profile before they get him made up for the show every morning. Prosthetics are heavily used to get the job done. LOL!